Nigeria: Panic As Oil Theft, Illegal Refining Increase in Niger Delta

With the introduction of Amnesty, training and capacity building of youths in the Niger Delta, expectations were high that the development would culminate in increased peace and end to vandalism, oil theft and illegal refining in the region. But this has not been the case. Sweetcrude investigations showed that these continue to occur. The data obtained from Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited, leading oil and gas exploration and producing company with over 500,000 barrel per day output indicated that vandalism, oil theft and illegal refining continue to occur in the Niger Delta. For instance, in January, February, March and April, this year, Shell recorded 10, eight, seven and two oil spill cases respectively. In January, February, March and April 2017, the company had recorded six, another six, 11 and eight cases respectively. The company attributed a bulk of the cases to sabotage. Facilities, impact Consequently, many pipelines dedicated to […]